RWBY: The Darkest Hour
by TheFlyingWelshman1
Summary: Sometimes victory comes at a cost. This is the story of how the Seven Heroes of Remnant managed to attain a victory against Salem despite the loss of their leader. Prequel to Remnant’s White Light.


**Patch Island**

 **Two weeks after the Reclamation of Beacon Academy**

 **Ruby's POV**

Ruby couldn't believe what was happening to her. She had reunited her team, defeated countless monsters and survived events that most people would have run away from. She rallied the former students of Beacon Academy and took back her school, destroying the enormous Dragon that stood guard all by herself. She lead the Eight Heroes of Remnant through hardships and victories, eventually driving Salem's forces back to wherever they came from. So why was this happening to her? Why was her home burning to the ground, her friends bruised and bloody, her sister's mechanical arm lying in pieces? Why was she barely able to stand up, let alone fight?

Her answer came in the form of her most hated enemy descending towards the ground on a jet of fire. Cinder Fall had arrived on Patch Island to settle the dispute between her and Ruby once and for all. The False Maiden looked even deadlier now than she did the last time the two fought. Her left eye was still missing, hidden by a black eye mask, but her right eye was glowing brightly with the power of all four Seasonal Maidens. Her elegant red dress flowed around her body, concealing a mangled left arm and multiple burn marks. Her hair has grown out, now reaching past her shoulders, partially hiding the mask, and her smug grin now held a touch of madness in it.

"It's funny," Cinder said in her sickly sweet voice. "A few years ago, I was actually afraid of you. I tried everything I could to end your life before you had the chance to harness your powers, and when you did I avoided you like a plague." Her right hand shot out, grabbing Ruby by the throat and lifting her off her feet. "Looking at you now though, I'm having trouble figuring out why I was so scared. You and your little group of 'heroes' barely lasted five minutes against me, and your power barely even touched me this time." Tightening her grip, Cinder started choking Ruby, stopping her from replying. "Maybe you just got lucky that night at Beacon Tower, catching me with my guard down. Or maybe I just wasn't powerful enough back then, Who knows? Who cares?" Spinning on her heels, Cinder threw Ruby hard into the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

Gasping for breath, Ruby quickly struggled to her feet and spun around to face Cinder. She knew she couldn't win, but she decided not to die without a fight. Summoning the last of her strength, Ruby's eyes began to glow as her powers activated for what may be the last time. The strength returned to her legs, and her hands steadied. She was drawing power directly from her own life force now, and even if she survived this, she would lose at least ten years of her lifespan, but right now she just didn't care. Shedding her ruined cloak, Ruby formed a scythe of white light in her left hand and charged forward, swinging wildly at her sworn enemy.

 **Yang's POV**

Yang's eyes slowly opened up, her head still spinning from the blast that destroyed her right arm. Forcing herself to focus, the ringing in her ears died down and her eyesight returned. The first thing she saw was her partner, Blake on the ground face-up with blood leaking from her mouth, nose, and where her left cat ear used to be. Crawling towards her closest friend, she carefully turned Blake on her side to make sure she didn't choke on her own blood. The action caused Blake to stir, her eyes fluttering open to look at Yang. "Blake," Yang said, trying her best to mask the pain in the stump of her arm. "Can you hear me?" Blake nodded as best she could, before looking around with her eyes, worry showing up in them.

"W-w-where's R-Ruby?" She asked, her voice hoarse and strained. It was at that point the sounds of fighting reached Yang's ears. Looking behind her, she saw that Ruby was somehow still fighting Cinder, armed with a scythe of pure light. Yang wondered how her sister was still able to use her powers, especially since she was the first one to be taken out of the fight. She soon realized the answer, and it only made her even more worried. 'Why is Ruby doing this? She promised me that she'd never use that trick again. She promised!' Deep down Yang knew her sister didn't have any choice, but she still hated it.

Still, Yang knew Ruby would be able to concentrate better on beating Cinder if she knew her friends were safe, so she focused on getting the others to safety. Struggling to her feet, the blonde carefully picked up her partner with her good arm and started carrying her somewhere safe.

 **Weiss's POV**

Weiss slowly climbed to her feet, cradling her injured left arm to her chest. She watched the battle unfold between Ruby and Cinder, amazed at how Ruby was keeping up with the False Maiden. 'Come on, Ruby,' she thought. 'You can do this. Show Cinder why we followed you for all these years.' A moan to her side distracted her. Turning around, she saw the unconscious form of Nora Valkyrie, her ruined hammer still in her right hand. Knowing that they were still in the danger zone, Weiss walked over to Nora and knelt down beside her. "Nora," Weiss muttered, gently shaking her. "Nora, can you hear me?"

Nora's eyes slowly opened up, before focusing on Weiss's face. "Weiss, you're bleeding," she said, looking at the horizontal cut below Weiss's left eye.

"Don't worry about that, it's just a scratch." Weiss replied. "Can you walk? We need to get somewhere safe." Nora nodded and slowly stood up, mostly uninjured, aside from a large bruise to her right hip. Moving as quickly as they could, the two injured Huntresses hobbled away from the battle, only pausing to pick up and carry the unconscious Ren and Jaune.

 **Blake's POV**

Blake whined in pain as Yang carefully set her down, leaning her on a tree far enough away from the action. "It's gonna be okay, Blake. I'll go get the others." She heard Yang say, but for some reason she sounded different. Blake could hear her perfectly with three of her ears, but her left cat ear didn't seem to work as well. As Yang left to find the others, Blake tried moving her ears to find out what was wrong with her left one. While her right ear responded, she couldn't even feel her left. Worried, she lifted her left hand to her head and felt around, praying that she was just imagining things. Her eyes widened when she realized that her left ear was missing altogether.

Tears forming in her eyes, Blake turned her attention to the fight between Ruby and Cinder. Ruby looked like she was winning, but Blake knew it wouldn't last long. 'Hurry, Ruby.' Blake thought. 'You have to beat her before your strength runs out.'

 **Ruby and Cinder's POV**

Ruby deflected another fireball that Cinder sent her way, then retaliated with a beam of light. Ruby surged forward and brought her light-scythe down, but Cinder sidestepped out of the way. Cinder lashed out with a volley of slashes with her glass saber, but Ruby dodged them all, countering with a roundhouse kick to her stomach that forced Cinder back. Cinder was about to throw yet another fireball when she felt the Maiden powers within her start to act against her. Closing her eye, she focused everything on containing the energy that was trying to get out. By the time her eye opened again, Ruby was already bringing her scythe up in a brutal upward slash that lifted the False Maiden into the air. Concentrating on the last dredges of her powers, Ruby unleashed an enormous beam of light centered at Cinder. It hit like a tsunami, sending Cinder flying into the burning wreckage of Ruby and Yang's home.

Now entirely spent, Ruby collapsed on her hands and knees, panting for breath. A few seconds passed, and she started to believe she actually won. Then a massive gust of wind emerged from the house snuffing out the fires, and Cinder emerged, singed and bruised but alive.

"You people just can't give up, can you?" Cinder asked, furious. "You just can't give up and die! You're always so determined to do something, even though you know you can't win! Well, I've had enough of your persistence for one lifetime, Ruby! It's time I ended this." Reaching into her dress, she pulled out a long white glove with Salem's emblem emblazoned on it and slipped it on. Ruby's eyes widened at the sight of the glove and she tried to get up, but she couldn't. She didn't have any strength left at all. All she could do was watch with a defiant look on her face as a small Dark Portal formed in the palm of Cinder's hand, a small Grimm beetle crawling out of the portal. A wall of fire surrounded the two, cutting Ruby off from her desperate sister, who was running towards her to try and save her.

The beetle immediately spat a stream of black webbing onto Ruby's face. For a second, she didn't feel anything. Then she was hit with a sudden wave of intense pain that forced a scream from her lips. She would have screamed again, but her mouth wouldn't work. Sight and hearing vanished. All she felt was pain, then eventually nothing as she sensed herself being pulled through the webbing into Cinder's body. Ruby faintly sensed five other presences near her.

Then there was nothing.

 **Yang's POV**

 **"NOOOOOOO!!"** Yang screamed as Ruby went limp, before Cinder placed her hand on Ruby's cheek, flash incinerating the lifeless body. Satisfied, Cinder left through another Dark Portal, knowing she didn't have enough strength left to finish them all off. Running to the spot where Ruby's body would have been, all Yang found was her sister's Scatter emblem and tattered cloak. Her eyes widened and filled with tears as the realization sank in: Ruby Rose, her sister, leader, and the only family she had left, was gone forever.

Overcome with grief, Yang threw her head up and screamed at the moon. For the next fifteen minutes, all she could do was scream and wail and sob at the loss of her beloved sister.


End file.
